I can't say anything about you being crazy Gary but you are correct about the deleted posts. They just started sounding stupid so I toasted them. Need more building and less blogging :) Plus welding of thin metal was driving me crazy. Jim
Jim, I dont know what kind of trouble you are having welding, but I will give you a couple tips on thin metal. Keep your flame as small as you can, which may call for trying a smaller tip. If youre getting a shower of sparks when your welding, your running too hot or too much oxygen. You'll probably have to clamp things quite abit as thin metals love to warp like hell. You may find that spot welding a few spots along the length of the weld helps to keep things from spreading apart too much. I usually weld abit,and then as they try to draw apart, I take a light ball peen hammer and close the gap as I go, while the weld area is still cherry hot. Once you get the hang of it Jim, its really an enjoyable and versatile skill. But like all skills it takes time and some hands on experience. Just learning to read your flame, whether cutting or welding, takes some time. On light metal, you'll want a quiet flame, and as you turn down the gas and oxy, if it starts popping, your probably trying to go smaller than that tip wants to go. If youre having problems with "burn through" or feeling like you have to rush along the seam, you probably are running too hot. Anyhow a little advice which you may not need, but I hope it helps. Let me know if you have any specific problems youd like help with.
Great advice Gary and very much appreciated. I'll try to cool my flame as I am sparking occasionally and never have "popped" so the flame has probably been too hot. Maybe I'll find a smaller tip too. I like working with the smaller gauge metal but it really is fussy and can quickly start morphing into other than what I'm planning once it starts warping or melting. It is a learning experience and yes ... it is quite enjoyable. I am starting to understand that a giant sculpture will be an enormous amount of energy and work so I may need to scale down some of my goals.
I'm looking in the Eastwood catalog and see there's a non-lead based body filler that I was thinking about using for the holes and smoothing / filling in large gaps. Do you have any recommendations in this area? I'd rather not use any lead. Thanks again, Jim
Jim, I'm sorry I didnt reply sooner. I havent used much in the line of fillers when trying to fill a gap. One thing about welding thin metal, you'll have a heck of a time with a butt joint. Its just too easy to blow a hole between the two panels with too much heat. It'll just take some experience to be able to do that. You'll find that overlapping pieces and trying to keep your gaps tight will make things much easier. Anyhow, as far as filler, there is some interesting material, an impermeable body filler calle "AllMetal" that is basically ground aluminum and resin. i've used it in bodywork when I felt I might not have a watertight weld. It doesnt absorb moisture and swell like regular bondo.
Take a look at this picture, its me and my son at The Local Air Museum for a charity Christmas party. I had my new PS2 remote working (finally) and you can see the small pouch I constructed to hide it in. It did a better job of hiding the "operator" than the pouch slung over my shoulder.
Thanks for the tip on the filler Gary. WOW those pictures are really nice !!!!!! Your droid and the stealthy controller are amazing. You can really blend in with that setup. Looks like a fun event to take R2 and your son.
Also a followup on my welding technique. I used your advice and cut the flame down significantly. Pops occasionally but now I don't burn through so fast and you're right .... it's actually kind of fun. I'll post something during the holidays about it when I get some time. Thanks again for all your good tips and I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving. Jim
6 comments:
Jim,
I must be going crazy. I checked your site last night and saw a post about your battle droid project, get on here this morning and its gone...
Gary
PS. I like the Fox News coverage of R2. I'm sure his appearance fee will skyrocket now :)
I can't say anything about you being crazy Gary but you are correct about the deleted posts. They just started sounding stupid so I toasted them. Need more building and less blogging :) Plus welding of thin metal was driving me crazy. Jim
Jim,
I dont know what kind of trouble you are having welding, but I will give you a couple tips on thin metal. Keep your flame as small as you can, which may call for trying a smaller tip. If youre getting a shower of sparks when your welding, your running too hot or too much oxygen. You'll probably have to clamp things quite abit as thin metals love to warp like hell. You may find that spot welding a few spots along the length of the weld helps to keep things from spreading apart too much. I usually weld abit,and then as they try to draw apart, I take a light ball peen hammer and close the gap as I go, while the weld area is still cherry hot. Once you get the hang of it Jim, its really an enjoyable and versatile skill. But like all skills it takes time and some hands on experience. Just learning to read your flame, whether cutting or welding, takes some time. On light metal, you'll want a quiet flame, and as you turn down the gas and oxy, if it starts popping, your probably trying to go smaller than that tip wants to go. If youre having problems with "burn through" or feeling like you have to rush along the seam, you probably are running too hot. Anyhow a little advice which you may not need, but I hope it helps. Let me know if you have any specific problems youd like help with.
Gary
Great advice Gary and very much appreciated. I'll try to cool my flame as I am sparking occasionally and never have "popped" so the flame has probably been too hot. Maybe I'll find a smaller tip too. I like working with the smaller gauge metal but it really is fussy and can quickly start morphing into other than what I'm planning once it starts warping or melting. It is a learning experience and yes ... it is quite enjoyable. I am starting to understand that a giant sculpture will be an enormous amount of energy and work so I may need to scale down some of my goals.
I'm looking in the Eastwood catalog and see there's a non-lead based body filler that I was thinking about using for the holes and smoothing / filling in large gaps. Do you have any recommendations in this area? I'd rather not use any lead. Thanks again, Jim
Jim,
I'm sorry I didnt reply sooner. I havent used much in the line of fillers when trying to fill a gap. One thing about welding thin metal, you'll have a heck of a time with a butt joint. Its just too easy to blow a hole between the two panels with too much heat. It'll just take some experience to be able to do that. You'll find that overlapping pieces and trying to keep your gaps tight will make things much easier. Anyhow, as far as filler, there is some interesting material, an impermeable body filler calle "AllMetal" that is basically ground aluminum and resin. i've used it in bodywork when I felt I might not have a watertight weld. It doesnt absorb moisture and swell like regular bondo.
Take a look at this picture, its me and my son at The Local Air Museum for a charity Christmas party. I had my new PS2 remote working (finally) and you can see the small pouch I constructed to hide it in. It did a better job of hiding the "operator" than the pouch slung over my shoulder.
http://www.speedofflight.net/galleries/2009/santa_starwars_ahm/content/30D_041363_large.html
Thanks for the tip on the filler Gary. WOW those pictures are really nice !!!!!! Your droid and the stealthy controller are amazing. You can really blend in with that setup. Looks like a fun event to take R2 and your son.
Also a followup on my welding technique. I used your advice and cut the flame down significantly. Pops occasionally but now I don't burn through so fast and you're right .... it's actually kind of fun. I'll post something during the holidays about it when I get some time. Thanks again for all your good tips and I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving.
Jim
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